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| “ | Forget it. We've both heard enough speeches about higher causes by now. History will decide who is right. End of story. | „ |
| ~ Jetstream Sam's final lecture in a nutshell, prior to fighting Raiden. |
| “ | Oh, good. Why, that's very good! Yes, I like that! | „ |
| ~ Jetstream Sam's most famous quote |
Samuel Rodrigues, better known as Jetstream Sam or the Minuano, is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Sundowner) of the 2013 action-adventure video game, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and the titular main protagonist of his own prequel, DLC, Jetstream.
He is a dangerous and heavily skilled Brazilian samurai and mercenary with only one cybernetic enhancement, his right arm. He is one of Senator Armstrong's minions and a member of Desperado Enforcement LLC. He also serves as Raiden's arch-rival and evil counterpart.
He was voiced by Hiroaki Hirata in Japanese and Philip Anthony-Rodriguez in English.
Biography
Past
Samuel's father was the owner of a Kenjutsu dojo in Brazil, their family having a long line of swordsmen. He taught the Uradachi technique, which thought of violence as the final goal. Sam's father was finally killed by one of his students, apparently under orders from a drug cartel. Sam inherited his father's sword and left Brazil, eventually making one last trip back to slay his father's killer, before he left forever.
Sam became a wandering mercenary, taking whatever work he could, and made a name for himself in the criminal underworld. There was even one story that said he took down a squad of 10 armed mob hit men using only his sword. Sam eventually got himself an exoskeleton suit to enhance his already impressive abilities and had his sword, the Murasama blade, modified into a high-frequency blade.
Taking on World Marshal
Sam arriving in Denver.
Eventually, Sam learned of Steven Armstrong's ties with the World Marshal PMC and set out to take him down for just letting soldiers die while taking no personal risk to himself. However Armstrong and Monsoon, one of the members of the Winds of Destruction, had arranged for Sam to come to Denver, hoping to recruit him. Sam infiltrated World Marshal's headquarters through the sewer systems, in the process, running into the LQ-84i prototype.
It said it had been ordered to kill him, but Sam replied it should make its own choices. The LQ-84i (Blade Wolf) thought about that for a moment, but responded that it couldn't disobey direct orders or its memory would be wiped, before engaging Sam. He managed to defeat it, saying that Blade Wolf hadn't done badly, but he'd won because he chose to fight. Sam entered World Marshal headquarters, where he continued to fight his way through the cyborgs. He finally reached a hangar like area where Monsoon showed up, who mentioned his taking on an entire drug cartel, but said it would've been pointless. Sam just said he'd only been out for revenge, which he'd gotten and Monsoon said they should see what he had now.
Sam fighting the Metal Gear RAY.
He dropped a red phosphorous grenade down to generate a large cloud of smoke, disappearing as a Metal Gear RAY came out to fight Sam. He managed to take it down, only to be called by Armstrong, who said he'd done well, but he needed to come to the top floor to finish things. Sam managed to fight his way up to the rooftop, where he faced Armstrong himself, who thanked him for coming. He asked the senator what his game was and he replied it was Sam's final interview.
Sam fighting Armstrong.
Armstrong absorbed the nanomachines from various vehicles around the building, powering up, and the two engaged each other. Sam managed to apparently defeat Armstrong, who asked him to join his cause, so as to end war as a business. Sam admitted that perhaps he'd misjudged him and Armstrong asked him to lend them a hand. Sam asked why didn't he just take his and attacked the senator again, finally cutting his hand off. However, Armstrong used the pointed, metallic stump to impale Sam's right arm, badly damaging it. The senator again asked Sam to join him and he agreed. Afterwards, his right arm was replaced with a cybernetic replacement and Sam began performing missions for his new master, alongside the restored Blade Wolf.
Meetings with Raiden
Eventually, Sam and Desperado launched an ambush on the convoy transporting N'mani, an African prime minister. Sam easily cut through the lead vehicles and Maverick soldiers, though the prime minister's limousine got away from him. However, N'mani was captured by Sundowner and Sam met him on a train. Raiden eventually caught up with them and tried to stop Sundowner from harming N'mani, but Sam stopped him.
Sam dueling Raiden for the first time.
Sundowner left Sam to Raiden and the cool Brazilian wind managed to take him on easily, noting that his skills were self-taught and not half-bad. Sam managed to slash out Raiden's left eye, then said that he was denying the true purpose of his sword and its desire to kill and bathe in the blood of his enemies. Raiden replied his sword was a tool of justice, but Sam dismissed his claims and ferociously attacked him, eventually severing his left arm. Sam mocked him by saying that it happened as Raiden brought a tool to a sword fight and prepared to finish him off. But Raiden had delayed long enough for the train to emerge from the tunnel and had to retreat from the Maverick reinforcements. Some time afterwards, Sam appeared to Raiden on several holographic billboards as he approached World Marshal headquarters.
Sam confronting Raiden about his attitude.
Sam questioned Raiden's pursuit of justice, pointing out that the cyborgs he'd been killing were still people. Raiden told that they had chosen this, but was shot down by Sam when he asked him to turn off his suppressive nanomachines and find out that these cyborgs come from desperate backgrounds. This led to Raiden reaching World Marshall HQs in a confused haze as he realised that the conflict wasn't as black and white as he thought. Sam came out to face him, asking if his cause was just or just something he told himself to commit acts of violence. Monsoon appeared and started lecturing Raiden on his illusions of righteousness as Sam looked on. As Raiden took on his "Jack the Ripper" persona, Sam was interested in fighting him, but Monsoon told him to report back to their chief.
Final Duel
Sam waiting for Raiden with Blade Wolf.
As Raiden headed towards Solis, trying to stop Operation Tecumseh, Sam showed up to face him one last time, waiting for him with Blade Wolf. Raiden said for a hired killer, Sam wasn't very good at his job, but he said the war was the big payoff. Raiden replied that there'd be big raises all around when World Marshal got all those contracts, but Sam said he was talking about ideals, not money. He went on to say that they'd both heard enough talk about higher causes and that history would decide who's right. As they prepared to fight each other, Raiden said he didn't care who thought he was right and Sam said that was very good, before the two fought.
Sam's demise.
Finally, Raiden emerged victorious, stabbing Sam through the stomach. He fell dead, but beforehand, he had told Blade Wolf that Raiden had made him start to doubt his choice to aid Armstrong's plan. Depending on the outcome of the duel, he would either continue with the plan or he would leave his sword to Blade Wolf, who could do with it as he wanted. The blade would eventually be given to Raiden during his final duel with Armstrong.
Appearance
Jetstream Sam is a bulky muscular Brazilian man who stands at 1.95 meters (6'5") with brown hair that is long but is in a chonmage. He wears an beige-green exo-suit to amplify his already impressive physical attributes. He only has one cybernetic replacement, his right arm, which he lost in a clash with Senator Armstrong. His cyber-arm has Desperado’s logo on it, despite not being affiliated with it.
Personality
Sam honed his skills to become a great swordsman based on his own ideals of justice and was once greatly motivated by revenge against the people who killed his father. Taking out drug cartels and other sources of corruption, Sam developed a free-wheeling yet honorable personality revolved around his own pursuit of justice outside of legality and morality by adopting criminality to further dispense these ideals on other criminals. Since his employment into Desperado, Sam adopted a taunting and manipulative persona that Blade Wolf deemed as "unusual".
Although he was greatly outspoken against Armstrong and his use of child soldiers, Sam's defeat against Armstrong crushed his spirit and was forced to join Desperado anyway. Monsoon's words that corruption was a larger entity and could not be destroyed piece by piece, Sam's actions, despite having destroyed numerous cartel gangs would ultimately amount to nothing and his defeat at the hands of Armstrong only solidified this, rendering his ideals of justice essentially moot. Having lost his original reason to fight, Sam became a warrior without a cause and joining Desperado inevitably gave him more reasons to seek out conflict but secretly Sam had no idea why he now fought and was subconsciously waiting to be defeated. Abandoning his desire of justice, Sam's new beliefs were that ideals were not meant on the battlefield as only victors could write history and ultimately decide what was right regardless of their actions. The war Armstrong promised would prove his new ideals which is another factor of why he decided to assist World Marshall.
Raiden reminded him of his past self due to their similar ideals of justice which Sam held to originally. This caused friction between the two, Sam wanted to point out the logical flaws of Raiden's pursuit of justice as it was pointed out by him by Monsoon and Armstrong, in Denver, he berated him for wanting to protect the weak but showing no concern over the cyborgs he killed who were also exploited by Desperado. Also, Raiden suffered the same loss as Sam (losing an arm) but persisted anyway, sparking a degree of shame within Sam himself who surrendered his own pursuit of justice because of the same loss. Raiden's unyielding mentality also led Sam to question his involvement in Operation Tecumseh despite two years preparation and finally questioned if joining Armstrong was the right thing to do. Through Raiden, he attempted to redeem himself by initiating a final duel, the victor deciding whose ideals were right all along, Sam being killed also confirmed his original pursuit of justice was correct all along and left Blade Wolf's fate in his own hands by granting him the choice to do what he wished with his sword that would play a vital part in Raiden's final duel.
Much like his compatriots, Sam enjoyed combat as it was the only thing that drove him to fight, wishing to create or seek more conflict. He claimed to feel alive during his final fight with Raiden and only wanted to fight him in his peak condition, the "Jack the Ripper" persona. Even though he loved combat, Sam wasn't without scruples in battle as he attempted to persuade Blade Wolf to think for himself despite having previously sent to kill him and did not kill everyone at Solis even though he was perfectly capable of.
Although he wasn't born on the battlefield like Raiden was, it was certainly his home as he was able to deduce that Raiden was self-taught and held the purpose of his weapon back simply by dueling with him. Sam harbored a dark sense of humor towards cut related puns such as asking to Raiden if "[he] mind[ed] if [Sam] cut in" after previously stopping Raiden with his sword and asked Sundowner if he "cut [himself] shaving", having previously been cut to pieces. When Armstrong offered "a hand" to Sam, he responded by cutting off his and when Armstrong did the same later on, he only laughed as he reached out to lend a hand that was cut off. Prominently, Sam had a left scar on his eye that exceeded across his face. Aside from his right arm that was cut off and replaced, Sam had very few cybernetic enhancements when compared to the rest of the Winds of Destruction. His sword was a high-frequency Murasama that was passed along through the Rodrigues family, his father before him and it used to be ID-locked so only he could use it until after his death.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Exoskeleton: Jetstream Sam wears a cyborg-esqe suit, which enhances all of his abilities to superhuman levels. The only cybernetic replacement being his prosthetic right arm. But despite the fact that Sam's suit is older than the cybernetics used by his opponents, he is able to take on various powerful opponents.
- Enhanced Strength: Sam's strength was enhanced to such a level he could match or even overpower Raiden.
- Enhanced Speed: Sam could run fast enough to avoid gunfire and to close the stance between him and Raiden during their first fight.
- Enhanced Agility: Sam could perform acrobatic maneuver in a fight and even perform a double-jump.
- Enhanced Reflexes: Sam's reflexes were enhanced to where he can deflect bullets with his sword and keep up with other cyborgs like Raiden.
Sam using his sword draw to cut off Raiden's arm.
Abilities
- Master Hand to Hand Combatant: Jetstream Sam is a highly skilled hand to hand fighter. Accordingly to Kevin's analysis of Sam's data, he incorporated Judo, Capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu in his fighting style. In terms of sheer combat ability, he was skilled enough to continue fighting Raiden, even when disarmed by the latter, even catching Raiden's sword with his hands.
- Master Swordsman: Sam is an extremely deadly swordsman. His sword fighting style is Brazilian kenjutsu under the "Rodrigues New Shadow School". He killed ten mob enforcers with just his sword long before he became a cyborg. He was capable of deflecting bullets with his sword, even from heavy machine gun turrets. Despite only wearing an exoskeleton pre-2016, Sam was able to fight against the unmanned weapons Blade Wolf and one of Desperado's Metal Gear RAYs, as well as confronting Armstrong in his peak condition. He was able to duel Raiden twice, defeating him the first time due to his superior swordsmanship skills.
- Expert Tactician: Jetstream Sam is a skilled tactical planner. He uses the environment to his advantage, such as igniting a gas canister on a train to blindside and distract Raiden to cut off his arm or when he used a helicopter to launch himself back at Armstrong when he was thrown. Sam could also read peoples' skills and personalities very easily, demonstrated when he quickly learned that Raiden was self-taught and restrained his rage. He tended to taunt his opponents in order to sway their focus.
- Motorcycle Riding: Sam can efficiently ride is motorcycle when traveling.
Equipment
- High Frequency Blade: Sam's weapon was his HF Murasama blade also referred to as the "A VT7 High-Frequency Blade". According to Blade Wolf, the sword's high-frequency conversion carried over the already excellent properties of the original sword, making it extremely powerful. Sam carried the Murasama sheathed at his side in the style of samurai (buke-zukuri), which allowed him draw quickly from the taito stance.
- Modified Sheath: The Murasama's sheath contained a rifle mechanism with a magazine loaded and a trigger located below the sword's hilt. By triggering this mechanism, Sam could launch his sword from the sheath and use iaido techniques with increased momentum which he demonstrated when cutting off Raiden's arm with one strike.
- Exoskeleton suit: Sam was equipped with a powered exoskeleton (serial number 977-AZQEE) that enhanced his strength, durability, speed and agility, as a means of matching up to other cyborgs. Sam's only cybernetic replacement was his right arm.
Theme
The Only Thing I Know for Real
Trivia
- When Sam was first seen in the Spike Video Game Awards trailer of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, he had a slightly different appearance and was initially thought to be Vamp by fans.
- The music that plays during the fight with Sam is "The Only Thing I Know For Real". It is sung from Sam's point of view, saying that he doesn't know why he draws his sword except to kill, until he meets death.
- Sam's sword name is based on two different blades, the Muramasa blade made by the person/school of the same name and the Murasame sword, a fictional blade in Nanso Satomi Hakkendan.
- As implied by the intros of both the main game and his titular DLC, Samuel is also slightly hemophobic, as he didn't want to get blood all over him. The cause is possibly from the death of his father by the hands of a insider who was under orders of a drug cartel.
External Links
- Samuel Rodrigues on the Heroes Wiki
- Jetstream Sam on the Metal Gear Wiki
- Jetstream Sam on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
